Tuesday, 8 April 2014

Hosh Pants for KCW

I had no immediate plans for Kids Clothing Week this time around. I signed up, I always do. I like the spirit of the challenge and it always inspires me to try something new. This seasons challenge has a theme: 'Mini Me'. I shy away from the thought of dressing like my kids or thinking I can get away with star print stretch denim trousers. Who am I kidding?

But I do have a spot of big sister adoration going on in this house so what better than to feed that while they are still at the cute and cuddly stage.

No fighting over boys or ransacking each others make up/bags/wardrobes/shoes yet. Oh no, that is way way off in the distant future. So far we are not even thinking about what it will be like for my poor husband when we get there!

I used a stretch denim from Minerva Crafts with a tiny star print design.

The fabric is very stretchy, almost like regular stretch jersey but with a little extra rigidity from the denim.

Little sister here fell into the measurements for the size 3 but after cutting out the other pair I was a couple of inches too short to make the leg piece. I just went for it and cut out the size 2 thinking that the stretch would work in my favour.

As it happens, the fit on the size 2's is lovely. The legs are a little baggier than the ones I made for Boo, and the waist is not tight at all. A happy result.

The leg panel is cut out in one piece so if you have an interesting print it won't be ruined by a side seam on the outer leg. This also makes for a very quick construction as there are fewer pattern pieces. In total there are only 3 pattern pieces to the whole thing. The waistband is made from two different sized rectangles which you cut out twice for each one, and the leg pieces are cut out twice, you know, like you do for trousers ;-)

The hemming is done first, which gave me sheer delight when I had finished attaching the waistband because I realized that I had finished. No going back to turn things up. Yey!

The hem is completed with a little triangle that is sewn on to secure and tidy the end of the leg seam. Hems are sewn first, followed by the leg seams, then the raw edge of the leg seam is tucked back up and held down by the little triangle.

I did my overlocking first, then sewed the triangle. While I was overlocking I tucked the raw edge into the space and ran the overlocker over it. This held it in place better when I sewed the triangle. In the above photo, the bottom triangle was done without doing this and the fabric wanted to shift about and get stuck under my presser foot. I had to unpick all those loose ratty threads because they looked ugly. The top triangle was overlocked and tucked in at the same time. Much neater.

There, held down by my overlock stitching.

My big girl got a pair of size 6's which was the largest size. She has a lot of leg and the length was perfect on her. You can see the difference in fit between the two girls. L is still in nappies and even so, there was plenty of room. It may have been the fabric but I noticed that L (in her nappy filled size 2's) ended up with a baggy bum after a while. Boo's didn't go out of shape at all. But then she doesn't wriggle as much.

My eldest isn't going to be in this pattern for long but I will use it again for my youngest. They make really great play trousers and are easy to get on and off.

All in all a successful first two days KCW sewing. Next up is a dress from the Sew Chic Kids book that I have been meaning to crack open for a while now. The only downside is that my daughter has requested pink. I will grit my teeth and get on with it, then make her the blue one that I intended to make in the first place.

I hope everyone joining in with the challenge is having a productive week. If you are unfamiliar and curious as to what it is all about, have a look at the flickr pool to see the inspirational clothes others are making.

Before seeing yours, this pattern didn't excite me particularly - but now I think that these could well be the perfect pants for "I like skinny pants" Lucy. Just bought myself some stretch sateen to make them with - so guess I'd best go get the pattern too!

I am loving the idea of stretch sateen. I bet it is hard for me to source over here, going to have a look later. I bought mine as part of the Pattern Bundle #2 (have a look at the Straightgrain blog) It was brilliant value and there were 2 other patterns I wanted in there as well.